North America

The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into a JetBlue flight that reported hitting a drone as it approached New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The FAA reported that the pilot of an Airbus A321, departing from Las Vegas at the time, reported the incident while the aircraft was on final approach. According to the U.S. regulator, the incident occurred around 7:15 am EDT. The airline reported that the flight landed safely, passengers deplaned as usual, and that the plane had been withdrawn from service after a post-flight check, during which no evidence of damage or collision was...

The Federal Aviation Administration announced that it had?launched a probe after JetBlue reported a JetBlue plane?hitting an unmanned aerial vehicle while approaching New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday. The FAA reported that the pilot of an Airbus A321, departing from Las Vegas at the time, had reported the incident while the plane was on final approach. According to the agency, the incident occurred around 7:15 am EDT. The airline reported that the flight landed without incident and customers deplaned as normal. A post-flight check found no evidence of damage or a collision. The Port...

After a vessel was struck in the Gulf of Oman, the?United Nations Shipping Agency halted an evacuation effort on Thursday, aimed at getting hundreds of stranded vessels and tens of thousands of seafarers through 'the Strait of Hormuz. "I was informed of a ship that had passed through the Strait of?Hormuz today being attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel was not evacuated under the IMO framework", Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General of?the U.N. International Maritime Organization said in a press release. "I've decided to temporarily pause the implementation of this plan in order to confirm that all the necessary...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed Thursday that the government should 'end its requirement for self-driving vehicles to have manual brake pedals. This would make it easier to deploy such vehicles on U.S. highways. The proposal does not apply to cars with a human driver. NHTSA has also stated that it will not abandon braking requirements for self-driving cars, such as strict standards on stopping distance. The?agency has proposed a number changes to help facilitate the introduction of self-driving cars. NHTSA has begun developing "safety performance" tests for self driving vehicles, as part of an independent standard. Automakers...

The White House asked Congress for $1 billion on Wednesday to increase the pensions of former General Motors Auto Parts Unit Delphi workers that were reduced during a bankruptcy restructuring in 2009. As part of a supplemental request, the?White?House also wants to raise $1 billion for reconstruction work at New York's Penn Station. It is also requesting $500 million to continue construction on Washington's World War II Memorial and Tidal Basin. The White House wants Congress to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to reallocate funds from the $12.5 billion modernization of air traffic control effort approved last year, to any...

U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner said to Congress on Wednesday that the financially struggling agency had a broken business?model and needed help from legislators to re-energize its.operations. "The bottom line is that we're out of money." Steiner said in his written testimony to a U.S. Senate Committee that they were borrowing money from the retirement funds of their employees to continue operating. He warned it would run out of funds if it didn't stop deferring payments. Congress must act to fix the Postal Service's broken business model. Steiner wants Congress compensated for "money-losing" operations and to make other reforms. Steiner...

The company's Press Office announced on Wednesday that Exxon's oil refinery in the 'Belgian Port' of Antwerp will stop production from June 29 until July 3, due to a striking action. ABVV Petroleum union stated on its website that workers at the refinery oppose a plan of cutting 35 jobs from a total of 735. According to the union, staff are also protesting about their deteriorating conditions of work and fewer options for early retirement despite ExxonMobil making higher profits because fuel prices have risen. The union stated that the job cuts were part of a wider reorganization, which will...

The ambitions of the Democratic Republic of Congo in cobalt are?becoming more and more clear. Export restrictions have been used by the world's biggest producer of strategic metals, which are used in everything from stealth bombers to mobile phones, to reduce excesses and raise prices. Kinshasa is trying to shift its focus away from Chinese operators and towards the United States, as it gains more control of its cobalt industry. This rebalancing is accompanied by a renewed effort to integrate the artisanal and smaller-scale mining sector (ASM), a minefield of ethical issues for Western cobalt purchasers, into official sectors. MOVING...

A spokesperson announced on Wednesday that ships have started sailing through the 'Strait of Hormuz' under a new scheme by the U.N.'s shipping agency in order to evacuate vessels trapped there by the conflict. International Maritime Organization announced on Tuesday that the initiative, which took months to complete, would allow hundreds of ships and 11,000 seafarers stranded at the Gulf of Mexico to pass through Hormuz. A spokesperson for the IMO said that "ships have already started to pass under this plan", refusing to give any details about the vessels that have crossed. LSEG ship-tracking data showed that at least...

Cobalt ambitions of the Democratic Republic of Congo are becoming more and more apparent. Export restrictions were used by the world's biggest producer of the strategic metal used in everything from stealth bombers to mobile phones, to "drain" the market and raise prices. Kinshasa, as it gains more control of its cobalt industry, is also trying to lessen its reliance on Chinese operators, and pivot toward the West, particularly the United States. The rebalancing is accompanied by new attempts to integrate the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), a minefield of ethical issues for Western cobalt purchasers, into official sector. MOVING...

The U.S. government said Monday that it is investigating the crash of a Tesla Model 3 on June 19, which was using a driver assistance system at the time. It struck a house in Katy, Texas and killed a woman aged 76. Since 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened more than 50 "special crash investigations" into Tesla incidents in which advanced driver assist systems like Autopilot are suspected of being used. About two dozen fatalities have been reported. Separately in March, NHTSA escalated its investigation into 3.2 Million Tesla vehicles equipped with "Full Self Driving" due...

Federal Aviation Administration announced on Monday it has awarded an $875,000,000, 12-year contract with Air Space Intelligence for the overhaul of U.S. flight schedules to improve how flights in the United States are managed. The 'FAA will utilize a new system to provide data and ensure that the?capacity is adequate for the?demand for air traffic. The FAA said that the system would use data to avoid significant delays and congestion "by strategically co-ordinating schedules and trajectories prior to aircraft departure". SMART is a system that uses data to analyze air traffic, weather, airport capacity and operational constraints. It can predict...

These are the 'top stories' from selected Canadian newspapers. The?reports?have not been verified and?we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these stories. THE GLOBE AND MAIL Theravance Biopharma, based in Dublin, is being acquired by Vancouver-based Zymeworks for C$1.32 Billion ($927.49 Million) cash. This marks the Canadian company's entry into the respiratory illness treatment market. The deadline for the submission of a proposal to the federal government for consideration is July 1. NATIONAL POST Alberta will unveil its proposal to build a new pipeline that would transport a million barrels of oil per day to the West Coast on Thursday....

In the six "Freedom Trucks," which will travel across the nation to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, an AI-generated George Washington welcomes visitors. He says: "Thy Rights are a Gift from God," under a ceiling that reads "In God We trust." The "Freedom 250", a fleet of mobile museums, have been parked from Washington State, on the west coast, to North Carolina, on the east coast, in anticipation of the Independence Day holiday. The trucks are part of what supporters call a 'year-long patriotic salute' to the American Revolution and nation it spawned. Freedom 250's spokesperson Rachel Reisner stated that the...

The data centers are blamed for the rising cost of electricity in America. The real problem is not that AI and consumers are increasing energy consumption. The real issue is structural and began before the recent infrastructure boom. The average residential electricity rates increased by 6% in the past year, which is more than double the inflation rate. About one-third of American homes now spend over 5% of their earnings on electricity. Investor-owned utilities will file the most rate increase requests in 2025. This is their highest level since mid-1980s. There is clearly a problem. The data centers that are...

A power outage on ?Sunday forced the shutdown ?of Venezuela's ?largest ?refinery, the 645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay, workers from that facility said, the second refinery without electricity following two deadly earthquakes in the country. After the earthquakes, in which at least 1,450 people died, South America has struggled to supply power to industrial plants, refineries and businesses as well as its citizens. Amuay was key to fuel production for domestic distribution and processed 137,000 bpd before the earthquakes. Some workers have said that the lack of water in some?power plant and?industries, including the refinery located in the western Falcon State is also...

Bloomberg News reported?on Sunday that U.S. Pipeline Operator?Williams was in advanced discussions to acquire Momentum 'Midstream, the natural gas pipeline company of its rival, for $5.5 billion. This is according to people familiar with this matter. The Tulsa-based company, which is based in Oklahoma, is finalizing an agreement to purchase Momentum from the private equity firm EnCap Flatrock?Midstream. According to the report, a deal may be announced within a week. Could not immediately verify the report. Williams Companies, Momentum Midstream, and EnCap Flatrock Midstream didn't?immediately reply to a request for comment. Bloomberg reported that the deal would give Williams a...

Around 1,000 Norwegian oil workers were 'locked out' on Saturday morning, in an escalation of a labour dispute. This is expected to disrupt drilling on the Norwegian continental shelf and some production. Offshore Norway, a group of industry representatives, announced on Friday that the lockout was declared in response to a strike by hundreds of members of Safe. The lockout will affect SLB, Halliburton and Subsea 7, DOF Subsea and Weatherford. Offshore Norway, a group representing the oil and gas industry in Norway, said that due to the strike and lockout next week, oil and natural gas production could fall...

The ongoing strike of oil service workers, and the lockout announced on Friday could cause Norway's oil and?gas?production to fall by about 12,000 barrels (of oil equivalent) per day next week. The industry group that represents employers said that four mobile rigs, 5 fixed installations, and?one intervening vessel had already stopped drilling and well operations due to the strike. A lockout that occurred on Saturday morning would force around 1,000 Safe 'union members who are covered by the 'well service agreement' to stop work. Safe had announced earlier on Friday that it would withdraw 63 more workers from the 500...

Data showed that after an interim agreement to end the Iran War, the Fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz began to increase. Analysts say, however, it will be some time before they return to their pre-conflict level and bring relief to the market. Before the U.S. launched their war with Israel on February 28, a third or more of the global urea trade -- the most commonly used fertiliser in the world -- and almost half of the seaborne sulphur -- a critical input -- typically passed through the strait. But the near-closure of the crucial waterway during most...

Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of Ukraine's biggest private power and coal company DTEK, said that it plans to upgrade its infrastructure to switch from coal to natural gas and nuclear energy in order to?phase out? its coal use by 2035. The global progress in phasing-out carbon-intensive coal is uneven. While many countries hesitate to invest in the energy transition, Ukraine was forced by Russia's conflict to upgrade its infrastructure. Timchenko stated that about 80% equipment at the coal-fired stations in Ukraine was damaged or destroyed last winter by Russian attacks. DTEK has announced its plans for energy transition to reach...

In recent months, Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. The war is now in its fifth year. Fuel shortages are worsened by drone attacks in Russia. People have reported rising prices and long lines at filling stations in most regions. Here is a list of recent attacks, starting with the newest. NORSI NORSI - Russia's fourth largest oil refinery owned by Lukoil, halted operations on Wednesday after a Ukrainian drone strike, which is likely to worsen fuel shortages across the country, according to two industry sources. NORSI is the second largest producer of gasoline in Russia. It can...

SpaceX is planning to start building a 13-km (8-mile) natural gas pipeline, called "Starpipe", to its Texas launch sites next month, according to county filings. Elon Musk's firm wants to increase launches of its next-generation Starship rocket. Starpipe is expected to be in service by the 26th of January, according to documents filed with the Texas Railroad Commission last month by SpaceX affiliate Lone Star Mineral Development. Rio Grande Valley Business Journal reported the pipeline plan earlier this year. It signals Musk's intention to accelerate Starship development and lay down the foundation for a higher flight rate. The 40-story rocket...

Local officials reported that Ukrainian drones targeted energy infrastructure in central and southern Russia and the largest city in Russian-held Crimea. This highlights the'reach' of Kyiv’s attacks. Ukraine intensified its strikes against Russian oil refineries and depots this year, driving up the price of gasoline in Russia where authorities have restricted sales in certain regions. The fuel shortages in the Crimean peninsula have been especially acute since Russia's annexation of the peninsula in 2014. Sevastopol's newly-installed Russian governor has ordered the early closure of cafes, public transport, and street lights to protect Sevastopol from overnight attacks. He said that the...